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14 July 2011

Tiara Thursday: The Aquamarine Pineflower Tiara

Are you ready to switch gears from all the Monegasque tiaras we've chatted about lately? I hope so, because it's time to ramp up for Zara Phillips' wedding. And you may have guessed what that means: Princess Anne's tiara collection. (Since we already covered a whole bunch of possibilities Zara could borrow from the Queen back before William and Kate's wedding, we're moving on! You can see all of those on the Jewel Central page, by the way.)

Our first tiara out of the Princess Royal's jewelry box (er, vault) makes my list of Most Curious Diadems. We'll call this one the Aquamarine Pineflower tiara.

Cartier is responsible for this gem and it features aquamarines set in a pine cone motif interspersed with rectangular stones.

This piece originally belonged to the Queen Mother. It was an anniversary gift from her husband, King George VI.

Amongst her collection, this wasn't a real favorite. She didn't wear it often before gifting it to her granddaughter, Princess Anne. (Some say it went to the Queen first, though I have never seen a photo of her wearing it.)

Anne had the gem altered at some point; she shortened it to make it easier to wear. (No surprise there, considering her own unchanging hairstyle. Tiaras will be made to accommodate Anne's barnet, not the other way around!) Above is the longer version, and below is the shorter version. The tiara-only photo at the top is also the shortened version. You can
see the central motif has changed from two pine cones to one of the
emerald-cut aquamarines.

She doesn't seem to wear the tiara very often, but she also attends a lot of state dinners where images of her are not available for the public, so it's hard to say. The removed central portion of the tiara has been made into a brooch, as you can see below, and we do see her wear that from time to time.

Have you figured out why this one makes my list of Most Curious Diadems yet? It's because of the pine cones, obviously. Tiaras are romantic things. Fairy tales come to life. You know what isn't romantic? PINE CONES. There are tiaras with stranger motifs, sure, but this one is still a head-scratcher for me.